Andrew Coppolino on how to celebrate Food Day Canada in Waterloo region

Saturday is Food Day Canada — a day that celebrates local food, chefs, farmers and producers and the very idea of Canadian cuisine prepared by restaurants and home cooks.

It's a concept and event created by Anita Stewart, an Elora-based food writer and food activist, 15 years ago. She wanted a way to chronicle a day in the life of Canadian food from coast to coast to coast. August is a peak time for local harvests across the country, she says.

"It's the time of the year when the season is rich with wonderful with foods. The harvest is in everywhere, literally from Fogo Island in Newfoundland to the north coast of British Columbia. It's hard to avoid local food at this time of the year," Stewart says.

There are two ways to participate in Food Day Canada: Go to a restaurant in your region which is serving a Canadian menu (visit fooddaycanada.ca to find participating restaurants), or simply buy Canadian ingredients and cook a Canadian meal at home.

Regardless of where you're eating, the next step is to share your meal with Canadians virtually.

"If you're eating a local meal and you're on Twitter or Instagram, take a picture and hashtag it Food Day Canada. It'll show up on our website and you'll be joining this massive national party," Stewart says.

'Thou shalt eat Canadian'

While it's a celebration, Food Day Canada evolved out of the 2003 sanctions against Canadian beef exports that crippled many farms in the country, changing the industry irrevocably, and was designed to focus our attention on and support Canadian farming and food production.

"It started as a grassroots event with people just sending me emails right through to restaurants across the country advocating for the event and participating," Stewart says.

Now, the popularity of the day is driven by social media and the way it can connect people and their food.  

This year, the global trade upheaval sparked by the Trump administration has caused unrest and many Canadian farmers "are taking a hit," Stewart says.

However, she stresses that the focus, as always, should be on local and Canadian food.

"Food in Canada is being celebrated. It's not thou shalt not eat American. It's thou shalt eat Canadian. Eat from our own foodshed and enjoy the ingredients from here," she said.

Extensive list of local restaurants taking part

Across the country, there are about 150 restaurants participating, including many in Waterloo Region and Wellington and Perth counties.

"The restaurant scene here is very rich from Langdon Hall in Cambridge and Proof and The Bauer Kitchen in Waterloo to Fork and Cork in Kitchener. There's also Borealis and the Neighbourhood Group in Guelph and Kitchener, and Fat Sparrow Group. It's an extensive and very good list," she says.

Buying local has a positive impact on communities and their economies and participating in the day is both fun and economically important especially in light of the fact that we import a lot of our food.

I think we need to celebrate and show the world this is who we are as a culinary nation.- Anita Stewart, founder of Food Day Canada

"We should realize that by shopping from our own producers we're keeping them in business and with that we're keeping their ability to be innovative," she adds.  

"I don't believe that a nation that imports as much as we do from other areas of the world can really be called sovereign until such time as we can feed ourselves. So, I think we need to celebrate and show the world this is who we are as a culinary nation."   

And while restaurants are a dynamic part of Food Day Canada, it remains a grassroots movement, Stewart says, pointing out that what she calls the "real food of Canada" is still in the home kitchen.   

"That's what I'm trying to encourage," she says. "Get engaged. Cook like a Canadian, shop like a Canadian and share like a Canadian."  

How to participate in Food Day Canada

• Visit fooddaycanada.ca and find a restaurant in your region.
• Buy and use local Canadian ingredients and have a backyard barbecue party.
• Either way, take a photograph of your Canadian meal and share your Food Day Canada experience using #FoodDayCanada #CanadaIsFood on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.